Morning Rundown: Penalty kill 'deteriorating'

LOS ANGELES -- It was one of the few things that was working this season under Randy Carlyle but now it even has become a problem area with Bruce Boudreau now behind the Ducks' bench.

The Ducks had improved their penalty killing to a point where they were pushing for top-five status in the NHL but it has fallen off sharply in the transition to Boudreau and his system. They're still at 82.5 percent in terms of conversion rate but they've allowed teams to score 10 power-play goals in 32 chances since Boudreau's debut against Philadelphia.

Taking a more serious tone ahead of Thursday night's game against the Kings at Staples Center, Boudreau said he still in the process who his best penalty killers are and then noted the absence of center Saku Koivu. Koivu will miss his sixth consecutive game because of a strained groin muscle.

"With Koivu out, it's been a big problem," Boudreau said. "Because he takes faceoffs. I think the biggest thing, if I'm looking at it, is wnning the faceoff. Because you win the first faceoff, it kills 25 to 30 seconds. It allows things to settle down. The second thing is I've noticed is when we do get control of the puck, we're not clearing it.

"That's a killer. When you're on the ice for 30 seconds and you're 20 seconds in your zone and you're running around and then you do get possession and you don't clear it, then you're in your own zone for another 20 seocnds. That's when bad things happen to you. Those are the two things we have to correct."

The Ducks' propensity to take ill-timed penalties have also hurt, most notably in their last game against Dallas where Corey Perry and Toni Lydman both went to the box to give the Stars consecutive two-man advantages and extended power-play time that they were able to convert twice on in a 5-3 win.

"When you're tired in life, you make mistakes," he said. "If you're out at work for 14 hours, that's when you make mistakes. It's everybody. You've got to be able to get fresh legs on. And that's why you'd like to get four changes in the penalty kill. You'd like for guys not to be on for any longer than 30 seconds.

"But when you start staying on 45 and 50 seconds, you're going to make mistakes. [On the power play] when you're going on offense, you don't seem to get tired. But when you're defending, it's a lot more tiring."

Bad penalties and the inability to get the puck down the ice consistently ultimately lead to exhausted players that are stuck on the ice, who are further exposed when opponents can take their time and set up shop in the offensive end.

"It can wear on you a little bit," Ducks winger Andrew Gordon said. "You want those clears. The longer they have possession, the more confidence they're building with every tick of the clock. Often times, you see a team gets hemmed in for minute, minute and a half and there's a goal at the end of it. Because the four guys are getting so tired."

Gordon also noted the other key parts of a successful kill that the Ducks need to do better -- eliminating second-chance opportunities and not allowing teams to gain the blue line and setting up. But one big key is winning faceoffs and Boudreau hopes that Koivu can return for next Thursday's home game against Vancouver.

"Right now with the faceoffs, it's a little more difficult when you're best faceoff man isn't here and you're second guy that was your second-best statistically [Maxime Macenauer] is sent to the minors," he said.

-- In addition to Emerson Etem and John Gibson playing for the U.S. and Devante Smith-Pelly being one of the leaders for Canada, the Ducks have three other prospects that will compete for Sweden in next week's World Junior Championships.

Right wing Rickard Rakell, the Ducks' first-round pick in 2011, center William Karlsson and left wing Max Friberg will all play for Tre Kronor. Rakell is in his second Ontario Hockey League season and leads the Plymouth Whalers with 17 goals. Karlsson and Friberg are playing in their homeland this season.

-- Here are the expected line combinations and defense pairings for the Ducks against the Kings:

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